Here is a quick ebook on how to partner as an entrepreneur.

1. PARTNERSHIPS
BUILDING ALLIANCES
3 WAYS TO BUILD SUCCESSFUL
BUSINESS PARTNERSHIPS
By Abraham Jankans
LaunchpadCareers By Abraham Jankans
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2. As an entrepreneur, partnerships can be some of the best ways to scale and expand you business, at any level.
You should always be looking for ways to build new partnerships. I have built million dollar businesses leveraging
partnerships in a variety of industries.
1. WHY YOU SHOULD PARTNER
Scale Faster - Partnerships can offer you a quick way to scale your business. For example, we have an active
and successful partnership with Salesforce.com. As an partner they provide a stable technology platform for us to
build applications for our customer. In exchange for using their platform, they provide us a distribution channel
for our products through their sales team.
Exposure & Visibility - Partnerships with larger industry players can yield tremendous opportunities to gain
exposure. Large partners have already established a strong professional brand, through conferences, and online
presence and with customers. By partnering, you can get your business in front of these channels. TIP - If your
partner hosts and annual conference, ask them for a speaking opportunities to display your expertise as well as
your business.
Spread Workload - Starting and running companies are time consuming and expensive. Today’s modern
entrepreneur does not need to shoulder all of this burden. Developing partnerships can help you offload this
burden such as cold calling, shipping, collections, etc. If it is a win-win for you and your partner, they will be
willing to assume some of the burden.
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3. 2. HOW TO DEVELOP PARTNERSHIPS
Partnering Is Not Networking - Partnerships are different then “networking” in that networking does not have
agreed upon goals and actions. In partnering, you both agree to work together for a specific aim. Example - We’ll
both sponsor a both at a trade show, or do a joint webinar promoted to both our customer bases.
Partner Up - My most successful partnering relationships have been with larger companies. Large companies
have a well established brand, larger customer base and more resources. I refer to partnering with larger
companies as “Partnering Up”. Start by developing relationships with lower level reps, and then develop some
rapport and credibility with the company, then let the relationship expand naturally.
Team Up - Another great way to partner, especially for entrepreneurs pre-startup is to “partner-up” with other
entrepreneurs. I see this a lot with new startups where each founder partnered because they had a specific
expertise. Maybe you are good at business development “sales”, but you need someone who knows software.
Finding a business partner that compliments you is a great way to partner.
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4. 3. MAKING PARTNERSHIPS SUCCESSFUL
Add Value - No one likes to work with someone that doesn’t bring anything to the table. Know your worth and
make sure you are offering value. There are many ways to add value, including: Being and advisor, making
customer introductions, or simply being an enjoyable business colleague. Find out what’s valuable to your
partner and provide that often.
Leverage - Once you have established a few good partnerships, then it’s time to apply leverage. Leverage works
to amplify the success of your partnership by accelerating activity, or requesting more opportunities. Example -
Ask your partner if they could contribute to your marketing efforts by writing a blog post or sending out a
marketing piece to their customers. If you have been a good partner, they will oblige.
WIn-Win - All partnerships should be a win-win situation. If it is one-sided it won’t last or it will be detrimental to
one of the partners. Be careful not to offer too much without getting something in return, and don’t be resentful if
you don’t get what you want. Try offering value by referring customers, or giving a free training session to your
partners staff or salespeople.
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5. Here is a quick video I recorded on my phone which was the idea catalyst for this ebook. Feel free to watch on
Youtube.com. Just click the image.
Watch Video
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